Does She or Doesn't She?
by NeverMindDream
Summary: Sarah meets Greg's girlfriend for the first time and she can't believe she's actually jealous! Story is done! Feel free to check out the sequel 'Okay So Now What' [SarahGregOC]
1. He Has a Girlfriend?

AN This storyline just would not leave my head so I decided to write it...I have no idea if it's gonna go anywhere or if it'll just stay where it is...either way...here it is...just cause I like to share... Enjoy...Dream0)

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**Does She or Doesn't She  
**© 2005 Dream

She wasn't really sure where she was going. He'd said she just had to follow the hallway till she saw the desk with a short woman wearing funky glasses. Only problem, she'd passed a number of rooms with desks and everyone was sitting. How the heck was she supposed to know if the woman is short? She sighed and smiled, he never thought that far ahead, he was usually flustered when he gave her directions. She was sure it was the cute, sometimes sporadic way, that he dealt with things that attracted her to him. She never thought a scientist could be so adorable, and she was one.

"Umm excuse me I'm looking for Greg Sanders."

Sarah had been intensely focused on the folder in front of her, but jarred her head up to look at the womanspeaking to her."I-I'm sorry who are you?"

"I'm Payton Marelli. My boyfriend, Greg, told me to meet him here for his break, but I think I'm officially lost." She chuckled nervously, "He's not all that good with directions."

'My boyfriend'. It started ringing in Sara'shead. She smiled and nodded at the woman then tried to formulate the proper sentence in response. There was nothing. Greg had a girlfriend? Why hadn't he mentioned it before? Oh wait, he had spoken about a Payton but he hadn't said she was his girlfriend. Shit, why did she care?

"Miss?" Payton looked curiously at the brunette in front of her, when all of a sudden it dawned on her, "Hey are you Sara Sidle?"

Okay this was getting progressively worse, "Yes, I'm sorry, I'm in the middle of this big case so my mind is all over the place." Yeah that was good, always nice to fall back on the 'busy with a big case' excuse, it usually worked.

"That's okay I totally understand, I'm usually too busy to even talk to him during the week. In fact I haven't seen him in over ten days." Payton was rambling, she usually did that when she was nervous, this was his partner, why did she feel threatened? Greg had told her he'd had a crush on Sara for over two years, but had assured her he was over it once he met her. "I've been given one of those 'leave of absences'. You know the one, where your supervisor tells you to get a life outside the office?"

Sara had to smile at that. She'd lost count at the amount of times Grissom had told her that very thing. She instinctively didn't want to like this woman, but it wasn't easy, she was really nice, "I know that all too well. Umm, follow me I think he's doing an experiment in the garage."

"By the way it's nice to finally meet you. Greg speaks very highly of you, says you're like a mentor to him. He's constantly worried that he annoys you because he's so green in the field." Stop talking Payton! Why did she always ramble when she was nervous?

Mentor? Worried he annoys me? Quite the contrary actually, much to her chagrin she had been enjoying working with him more and more, once he'd left the lab it was almost as though he looked like a different guy to her. The scary thing was the more she looked at him, the more she liked what she saw.

Warrick almost walked into Payton as the two women rounded the corner. Nick wasn't far behind.

"Whoa I'm sorry." He put a hand to her shoulder, "I don't think we've met." He smiled.

Payton had to smile; Greg had told her about this guy. "You must be Warrick." She stepped back and extended her hand, "I'm Payton it's nice to meet you."

"Payton?" Nick said looking at her curiously, "Greg's Payton?"

She turned to acknowledge him, "You've heard about me?"

Nick smiled and looked her up and down, "Only the good things of course. I'm Nick Stokes by the way."

She shook his outstretched hand, "Hi Nick."

Both men were looking at Payton in a way that was slowly starting to piss Sara off, "Well this is a lovely moment, but we were on our way to the garage. Don't you two have a case to work on?"

Nick grinned knowing what was bothering her, which pissed her off even more. Nick had this way of figuring people out that always bugged her cause she couldn't hide shit from him, "Yeah Rick didn't we have that thing?"

Warrick was still taking in Payton, desperately trying to figure out how Sanders had managed to get her. "What?"

"You know," Nick nudged him, "The thing."

"Right, yeah right, the thing." He reluctantly tore his eyes away, "Good to meet you Payton."

She shook her head and grinned, "You too Warrick."

She chuckled when she overheard him say to Nick, "Sanders has all the luck man, all the luck."

Sara was desperately trying not to show the amount of disdain she had growing inside her for this woman. She shouldn't care, why the HELL did she care? She was about to push open the door to the garage when Greg burst out of it.

"Back up it's going to blow!" He said with a laugh grabbing Sara by the waist and pushing her back just as a loud bang emanated from behind the door. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself, "Remember the DB, the one that reeked like shit, his ass all blown out? Well I figured…" His voice trailed off when he saw Payton quietly beaming at him.

She waved, "Hi."

He pulled the goggles off his head and stepped passed Sara, "Hey babe." He looked at his watch, "It can't be that time already."

She took his hand and leaned in to kiss his cheek, "It's a half hour later actually." She entwined her fingers with his and smiled at him.

"Damn," He blushed, "I'm sorry I didn't…"

"I knew you'd get caught up that's why I gave you the half hour window."

"Shit babe I'm just in the middle…" He started to say.

Sara really just wanted her to stop touching him, especially since she had enjoyed it too much when he had been touching her. She spoke up because she actually felt herself retching. Again, why did she care? "Don't worry about it Greg I got it. I was just coming to you; did you pump methane gas into the porta potty?"

He kept hold of Payton's hand and turned around instantly excited again, "Yeah and I rigged the lighter to go off, then BOOM!"

"What is it with you and blowing up toilets?" Sara shook her head with a laugh.

Payton looked at him curiously he just shrugged, "Dry ice case, exploding toilet, pink corpses, it was really cool. Anyway I just assumed it was a lighter and went with it."

"Well you were right. Hodges just identified that piece of plastic we found in his internal organs. It's from a standard lighter."

"So do you want me to…" He looked over at Payton who questioningly looked back at Sara.

"I want you to take a break Greg, I'll look over your chart and log the findings, go." Sarah waved him away.

Greg's face broke into a huge smile. He put an arm around Payton, "Didn't I tell you she was amazing? Thanks Sara I'll be back later."

She waved him away because she really couldn't stand the sight of him right now, "Take your time, you haven't had a break in ten hours." Actually she thoroughly enjoyed the sight of him; he always looked good in the garage coveralls.

"I'm buying you breakfast in the morning." He pointed at her as he started to guide Payton away, "Baby you should have seen it when the toilet exploded that one time it…" His voice trailed off as they walked away.

Sara watched them go down the hall, she remembered once when they had been forced to take a decontamination shower together, they'd walked down that hall and he'd very gallantly told her he hadn't seen a thing. She had looked though. She rubbed her hand over her face and headed into the garage, surveying the damage she sighed. This was going to take awhile.

As she logged each piece she found, surveying how big the pieces were in comparison to the once found at the scene, her mind wandered again. Why was it always too late for her? Why did her damn head click in just a little two late? How long had he been flirting with her, hinting at asking her out, comparing himself to whomever she was dating at the time? Now when he was obviously quite happy somewhere else she sees him the way she should have seen him years ago.

She shook her head, but he was Greg Sanders for the love of God! Silly Greg who wore headdresses and danced in the hallway, the guy who drummed on beakers with a rubber glove on his head, she didn't want him. Did she?


	2. Dreams and Observations

AN You know I wasn't going to write any more of this but then a few of you decided to review (thank you very much for that by the way:)...so this inspired me to possibly take it further…there isn't much in this update, just a bit more of some angsty Sara a little less in denial…as I sit on this idea the evolution could be interesting.

BTW The quotes in Sara's dream are from Season 5's 'Big Middle' so there are spoilers if you haven't seen it!

I'll shut up now I hope you like it. Dream :)

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_Sara groaned and buried her face in the pillow…_

"_How much does this thing weigh?" Greg looked at her dubiously._

_Grissom answered as ifGreg shouldn't have asked the question in the first place, "Two hundred and forty pounds at the moment. We'll increase the weight incrementally until you can't move."_

_Greg didn't believe him for a second and looked at Sara hoping she'd be on his side at least, "Oh, I can't lift that. And if I can't, you can't." He looked at her pointedly, "This is a safety issue."_

_She regarded him with a smile. He was always so cute when,frankly he was just always so cute,"Well, that's what the pulley is for, Greg, so relax and lie down on your back." She knew the implications of what she was saying even as she said it. She watched him reluctantly crawl onto the mattress anticipating a rebuttal from him with secret connotations._

_She wasn't disappointed, "You know, this is exactly like a dream I had once, except it wasn't in a garage. And Grissom wasn't watching," She tried to suppress her smile but it didn't seem to be working. "That was a different dream."_

_Grissom lifted the dummy they had rigged and placed it over Greg. Sarah was curious as to how his dream had gone but she really needed to focus on the experiment. "How's it feel, Dreamer?"_

"_Like 240 pounds of pure woman." She refused to laugh at that, but really liked the way he'd said it._

_"How's your breathing?" Grissom asked._

_"Limited."_

Sara rolled over and stared at her clock. Only fifteen minutes had gone by yet it'd felt like an hour. Damn Payton! Screw her for showing up and making these thoughts run through her head! Sara had been happily content living in her denial, getting all of Greg's attention and being around him as much as made her comfortable; always knowing she could take it further if she wanted. She couldn't do that now. Of course she didn't want to, did she? She smacked herself in the head 'Stop asking that question!' She had run through all of the professional reasons as to way it was a bad idea, but lately they weren't convincing her like they used to. Now that Payton was in the picture he looked even more enticing, was it just because she couldn't have him, or was it because she'd wanted him the whole damn time and she'd just realized it? She knew the answer; she just didn't want to admit it. She was so frustrated she had to scream into her pillow. Look what he had done to her, damn him!

Nick and Warrick found Greg in the break room as they were getting off a long shift. He was brewing one of his 'special' pots of coffee.

"Long time no see Greg." Warrick patted him on the back, "You gonna share that brew?"

Greg turned around with the filters in his hand and raised an eyebrow at his former colleague, "You had to do it didn't you?"

"Do what?" Warrick looked to Nick who just shrugged, he had no idea what was going on.

"Throw the 'ol Brown charm at my girlfriend." He scrunched up his face in a frown.

Warrick laughed, "I didn't know she was your girlfriend man. Soon as I did it was hands off, but I gotta say Greg." He put both thumbs up, "Good job."

Greg beamed, "You think so?"

"Are you kidding me?" Nick piped in, "I honestly didn't think she existed the way you described her, she sounded too perfect."

"I was right though wasn't I? She's a scientist too, we met at a conference on the…"

"Who cares how you met her Sanders? How did you get her?" Warrick was curious.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again." Greg said with a grin.

"A gentleman never tells." Sara said from the doorframe where she had been leaning and listening to the conversation.

Greg pointed at her and smiled, "See that's what I'm talking about. There is someone who knows me. Thank you Sara." He bowed, "As always your timing is impeccable."

'No actually my timing is shit. I want to push you up against that break room fridge and plant one on you till your toes curl but I can't, because your girlfriend is perfect. I call that shitty timing don't you?' This is what she wanted to say, but she forced the scowl down and pushed a smile up. "You're welcome Greg; you planning on working tonight? I have a 419 here with our names on it." She shook the file at him.

He finished pouring his coffee into a travel mug and snatched the file from her, "You're driving right?"

She smiled over at him, "Don't I always?"

He looked down at the file and took a sip of his coffee, "No comment, I've gotta spend a number of hours with you tonight I don't wanna put my balls in a vice before I've had a hell of a lot more caffeine in my system."

She slipped her arm around his waist and looked up at him with a smile, "Now would I do that to you Greg?"

Putting the file and the coffee into one hand he dropped his arm around her shoulder, "You would in a heartbeat and you know it."

It wasn't like this was abnormal contact for them. She wasn't normally a touchy feely person but had gotten into a habit of it with Greg, just comfortable hugs and shoves here and there. It had all been innocent and fun. At least it had been until his touch sent warm tingles through her skin. This was insane, she was sure she could qualify as certifiably nuts, that's all there was to it. She was fantasizing about Greg Sanders for shit sakes!

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"Okay I really hate to state the obvious here but what's wrong with that picture?" Nick looked out the break room window at Greg and Sara.

"Don't psychoanalyze it Nick." Warrick warned.

He held his hands up, "I'm not psychoanalyzing anything, but I would just like to point out that I can count on one hand the amount of times Sara Sidle has put her arm around me and I've always instigated it."

Still stirring his coffee Warrick walked over and watch Greg and Sara disappear around the corner, "Point taken, but you know what happened the last time you tried to interfere in Sara's love life."

"I didn't interfere I just tried to set her up."

"Right and what did she do?"

"Shot me down cold."

"Exactly, leave it alone Nick all those therapist sessions are going to your head."

"I'm just saying…" He trailed off.

"Yeah and I heard you Dr. Phil now can we get the hell out of here before Catherine finds us and throws us another case?"


	3. Ah The Feel of a Swing

**AN** Wow I had not anticipated the type of response I'm getting. Thank you so very much to all of you who have taken an interest in this plot. I'm assuming from the response that you would possibly like Greg and Sara to get together. I know you didn't expect me to figure it out, but I did, you guys want them together its okay to admit it. No more hiding behind words, just admit it already:) Yeah I think I'm funny.

Anyway, I'm going away for a week so, I will be able to check my email, however I won't be able to update till at least next Wednesday. I will do some writing while I'm away, so keep up the encouragement, it gives me motivation. Yes I'm a review whore, what are ya gonna do:)

Dream's gonna shut up now and let the characters do the talking.

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Sara had been doing well all week. The angst that had smacked her in the side of the head when she'd met Payton was all but gone now. She had managed to coerce herself back into her old routine of being comfortable around Greg again. Things were going well; leave it to Greg to screw it up again.

They were returning to a scene at a park where a child had been abducted. They had only found one shoe at the scene and Greg was certain the other was still there; they just weren't looking hard enough. So reluctantly Sara had returned with him.

"It's not here Greg, I'm telling you I went over this playground with a fine tooth comb." She protested.

He wasn't listening; he put his kit down by the swing set. She thought he was going to start digging in the sand when he sat down on the swing and started pumping his legs. She watched him, swing back and forth with his eyes closed, in complete wonder. Finally she couldn't take it.

"Greg, what are you doing?"

"Thinking," He said.

"About what?"

He opened his eyes lazily and looked at her upside down, "Have a seat and I'll tell you."

"I'm fine standing thanks."

"Come on haven't you been on a swing before?"

"Not since I had to hop up to sit on one."

"Well then you're missing out, there's no better way to relax your mind then on a swing." He jumped off and turned around to her, "Come on, put the kit down and have a seat." He indicated the swing and waggled his eyebrows with a smile.

Damn him for being so freakin' cute she couldn't say no to him. "Fine," She pursed her lips, "But I'm not promising I'll like it."

"Conceding under duress is just fine with me." He grinned as she sat, quite reluctantly, down on the swing.

He got behind her and started to push. She gasped, "I can do it myself you know."

"Yeah but," He said in her ear when she was against him, then pushed and waited to finish his sentence when she came back, "this is better." He said and pushed again.

Her insides were doing flip flops and her heart was beating somewhere in her throat. 'Think of Payton'. She begged herself. Greg was just her colleague helping her to look at the scene with fresh eyes. It didn't matter that she counted the second till his hands touched her back again and that she'd give anything for him to speak into her ear more. 'Think of Payton,' She repeated, 'Think of the case.'

"Okay so we were called in five hours after Kailynn Rush was reported missing." He was running through what they already knew, she just closed her eyes and let him push her while he thought out loud. "The park had only been closed down for two hours at that point. So that means it was open for three hours before the scene was secure."

She opened her eyes; she was following his train of thought, "So that was three hours of children playing."

He stopped pushing and started wandering over to the large play area, set in a square pit of sand. She jumped off the swing and followed him as he continued talking, "What do kids do when they find something in a sand pit?" He asked eyeing a sand castle built in the corner.

Sara turned on her flashlight and shone it at the castle, "They bury it." She said. Sure enough there, barely sticking out of the front of the castle, was the missing shoe.

Greg looked over and beamed at Sara, "Damn we're good together."

Her smile was wistful and totally lost on him, "Yeah." She said as he headed over to his kit to get a bindle to put the shoe in.

Back in the parking lot of the CSI lab Greg and Sara tumbled out of the truck laughing hysterically. "Admit it Sidle I can persuade you to do anything."

"Come off it Sanders," She laughed and threw the keys at him, so he could log the truck back in."It was for the good of the case." Little did he know that he could persuade her to do anything, he probably never would know. She'd been the 'other woman' unwittingly before, she wasn't going to choose it this time.

"I have you in the palm of my hand Sara," Greg turned to strut into the lab, "palm of my…" His voice trailed off, "Oh, hey baby."

Payton was leaning against her car regarding the two partners quietly. She knew they got along, she knew they didn't ask to work together, they just usually did and she knew that they'd known each other a lot longer than she had known Greg. That still didn't stop her from being highly uncomfortable with their playful banter.

"You forgot didn't you?" She asked quietly.

He looked down at his watch and groaned, "Damn! Yeah, I, I mean we," He indicated Sara who kind of resembled a deer caught in headlights, even though she hadn't done anything wrong. Really, she hadn't, "we were in the middle of this case and I had to go back to the scene and…" His voice trailed off, "Payton I'm sorry."

She sighed, "I do understand Greg, but you could have called."

"I know I'm an insensitive clod," He chucked thekeys back at Sara and got on his knees in front of Payton, "I'm the worst boyfriend ever but I'm begging you with puppy dog eyes to please, please, PLEASE forgive me and I'll make it up to you." He grabbed onto her hands and batted his eyelashes up at her.

Payton tried to look at him sternly but he was being so adorable she couldn't help but smile, "Fine I forgive you."

He beamed and got up to pull her into a hug, "You are the best."

"I know," She said into his chest, "Can we still have coffee?"

Greg looked over at Sara and raised his eyebrows. She nodded, "Be back in under an hour, I'll see if I can find anything probative on this shoe."

Heran over and planted a kiss on her forehead, "I don't know what I'd do without you." He grinned then went back to Payton and opened her car door for her, "You have under an hour to do nasty things to me baby, so be creative."

Payton rolled her eyes at Sara and smiled as she got into the car, "I'll try to think of something."

"Thanks again Sara." He waved then got into the passenger seat. It felt like a year as she stood there and watched them drive away. She shook her head and finally headed back into the building. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she shake this? She thought she was fine but this was too much, she'd never wanted to be somebody else so badly in her life. His affect on her frightened her to no end, because she had no control over it and it was getting to the point where she just might snap if she didn't do anything about it.

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Okay guys I hope this can somewhat tide you over, although I'm sure some of you want to kick me in the head, because I'm being SO mean to poor Sara. While others of you want to know how creative Payton is, that my friends I will leave up to your imaginations.:) See you in a week! 


	4. It Keeps Getting Worse

AN Because I'm apparently into slow torture I came up with this little idea in the airport waiting for a connecting flight. I was gonna wait to post it but got some time here so I'm posting it now...you're either gonig to hate me or love me or both...I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Sara...almost. :)

It's gonna hit the fan sooner or later I promise you that, I already have an idea how I want to do it...I just have to write it out... :)

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Sara was miserable and she hated why. She figured she had reached her limit early that night when she and Greg were on their way to meet Sophia at a scene. Little did she know she could handle a hell of a lot more, mainly because she had to.

"Can I ask you a huge favor Sara?"

"Only if I can say no."

"Okay, but I'm hoping you'll do this for me."

Who was she kidding; she'd do anything for the guy. "What is it?"

"Can we stop off at Payton's apartment? It's kinda on the way to the scene anyway."

"We're on the clock, Greg."

"I know, I know, I just, we had a fight today and I want to make sure she's okay."

'No damnit, break up with her and fight with me so that we can make up later.' That's what she wanted to say, instead she said, "Where does she live?"

He reached over and squeezed her hand, "I owe you."

Breathe Sara, you can do this. "Don't think I won't collect."

She opted to wait in the truck while he ran out. Unfortunately she could see their silhouettes in Payton's front window. She tried not look but staring at her lap put a huge crick in her neck. Fifteen minutes later he returned to the truck and from what she had seen, they had made up just fine.

"That's better." He was all smiles.

She pushed down the bile that was hitting the back of her throat and smiled back at him, "Good, can we go to work now?"

"By all means."

The crime scene was a hotel room. Sophia was already processing the main bedroom so Sara and Greg went into the bathroom.

"There's a lot of blood spatter out there, how much you want to bet the killer washed his hands first." Sara said as she started checking the sink drain for blood.

"Not much because I think you might be right."

"No blood in the sink."

"Hmm, maybe he had a shower." Greg stepped into the tub and squatted down to swab the tub drain.

"That takes a lot of guts, why not just rinse and get the heck outta dodge?"

"I don't know but look," Greg showed her the pink swab, "Positive for blood."

"Okay so someone kills then comes in here to get cleaned up." Sara agrees, "What do they do with bloody towels or clothes? People would be suspicious if someone trotted out of here with a bundle of blood soaked clothes and with the mess out there the kill must have been drenched."

Greg eyed the window right beside the tub, "I wonder." He said while digging into his kit for his printing powder. "Doesn't this window face west?"

Sara nodded again following his train of thought, "West side of the building is an alley, there's got to be a garbage bin nearby."

"Right," He smiled at the ledge, "Hey can you hand me tape to life this print?"

Pulling one out she passed it to him, "You gonna open that window now?"

He looked over and smiled at her, "Just let me fill this out." He wrote the appropriate information on the card handed it to her then lifted the window open. He stuck his head out the window and whistled, "You know I may be wrong but that looks like a bloody towel to me."

"Let me see." Sara stepped up to the window to look. She smiled, "Damn, you're getting good at this Sanders."

He looked over at her right when she looked at him, "I've had good teachers." He cleared his throat, "You know a year ago this would have made me nervous."

Noting the closeness in their proximity Sara inhaled slowly then backed away, "What would make you nervous?"

He grinned and reached for his kit, "Being in such close proximity to Sara Sidle woulda sent my hormones into overdrive." He leaned into her, "Good thing I finally took the hint huh?"

She gulped, "Uh, yeah."

He winked, "I'll go check the garbage, and you finish the bathroom."

Then all of a sudden he was gone. Sara had to lean back against the sink to brace herself. "What the hell is going on with me?" She mumbled.

"I don't know, but if I were you I'd tell him already, or it's going to eat you alive." Sophia had come to the bathroom to check on their progress and had overheard the comment.

"How did you…damn I should have denied something there." Sara ran a hand over her face; she knew it was getting bad when she couldn't even come up with a defensive response.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway, it's kind of obvious."

"Obvious?" Sara groaned, "To whom is it obvious?"

"Relax; it's just obvious to me as far as I know. Grissom wouldn't know if you slammed him over the head with it and Greg wouldn't even dare to dream it."

"Good, let's keep it that way." Sara went over to her kit to continue working, "No one ever needs to know. It'll eventually go away."

"Or eat you alive," Sophia walked back into the main room, "whichever comes first."


	5. Greg's POV

AN Well you guys have certainly inspired me to keep writing so thank you SO MUCH! This seems to be the chapter where some actual progress is made, but just as a forewarning don't get too attached, cause I kinda like angst. BUT just because you guys have been so nice there's a bit of a treat at the end...I hope you like it!

Your support is greatly appreciated! Dream0)

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It's amazing how one situation can make you think differently about something…or someone for that matter. For Greg it happened after a supposed nonchalant conversation with Nick in the locker room.

"Hey there Greggo how's Payton?" Nick's locker was open; he was changing after a shower.

Shrugging his jacket off Greg eyed Nick suspiciously, "Is there a reason why you're asking after my girlfriend?"

"Not really, you've pulled a lot of doubles in the past couple of weeks, all with Sara. I was just thinking…"

"Stop, stop right there. Payton has known about Sara since the beginning."

"Known what?"

Greg wanted to punch that grin off of Nick's face. "Known…well you know, about before."

"Yeah I know you had a crush on Sara and you say Payton knows, which means Sara knows."

"Knows what?" He'd never really thought about Sara knowing about his feelings. He always figured she just enjoyed the flirting and took it all in stride. Did she actually know that he thought he could have been in love with her at one time? She can't have known that, could she?

"Well now she knows about Payton and she knew you at least well…" Nick smiled at Greg in a way that unnerved him, "…you know."

Greg was getting slightly annoyed, "Do you actually have a point?"

Nick slammed his locker shut, "Just that sometimes you don't know what you want until you can't have it anymore." He patted Greg's arm and walked out of the room.

He stared at his open locker for a minute, 'Want what you can't have?' He muttered to himself, "What the hell does that mean?" He slowly shut his locker and made his way to Grissom's office for his assignment that night.

He ran into Sophia and Sara on the way and plastered a smile on his face, "Hello ladies."

"You're with me tonight Greg." Sophia put an arm around him.

"I'm uh…what? He looked over at Sara who avoided his gaze and walked down another corridor.

"With me, come on." Sophia dragged a confused Greg out into the parking lot.

That moment pretty much spelled out the rest of Greg's week at work. Sara avoided him like the plague so he was either sorting evidence or on site with Grissom or Sophia. Since, of course, that was frustrating him to no end, he vented about it to Payton whenever he wasn't at work. After six days of; 'Why would she just stop talking to me?' and 'I don't get it, one day we're friends and the next she hates me.' Payton couldn't take it anymore.

"Greg stop it. You're obsessing." She sighed finally.

"I can't help it, she's never ignored me for this long before. I mean there was this one time I held these results she needed for some dumb ransom and she wouldn't talk to me for a whole day…"

"You need to go Greg." Payton said coolly. She didn't want to be mean, but she felt like she shared everything with Greg and tried to make him her best friend, but he obviously held Sara in higher regard. She constantly felt like she was competing and that feeling wasn't going away, especially with Greg obsessing about it.

"…of course I managed to charm myself back into her good graces." It finally registered to him what Payton had said, "Wait what?"

"Your body is here but your mind is with Sara, maybe you should join it." She hugged a pillow to her chest and didn't look at him. She didn't mean to sound so cold and bitter, but she couldn't help the nagging feeling that there was more to his and Sara's friendship than he lead on.

"Payton I'm just worried…" He tried to explain still not totally believing they were talking about this again.

"You're worried she hates you, you can't stand that she's ignoring you. Greg you haven't once asked me how I'm doing or talked to me about anything but Sara in the last week!"

He sighed and rubbed his face, "I'm sorry Payton."

She waved a hand still not looking at him, "It won't work this time. Go deal with this Sara thing and then we'll talk. I can't handle competing with this…"

"Don't start with this again Payton. I've been over her for a long time. I told you that."

"Maybe you should tell HER that."

He wasn't exactly sure how he ended up standing outside her door with his keys in one hand and his jacket in the other. He was sure of one thing though, he had to talk to Sara.

* * *

Sara had had a long week, insanely long. She was sure she'd never been so bored in her life. She loved working solo, but this time it was different because Greg wasn't sending her text messages throughout shift to make her laugh. He was just gone. He'd gotten the hint too well this time and it scared her. It scared her because it made her miss him so much more.

The knock on the door startled her. She slowly got up to answer it.

* * *

Greg had been thinking about what to say the whole way there. He put a hand up on the door frame trying to come up with a good reason why he was there. When she just opened the door and stared at him at first his heart leapt, which scared him because that hadn't happened in awhile. Then it just made him mad, "Can I come in?" He finally asked.

"Uh, yeah." She stepped to the side and embarrassed herself by enjoying his familiar smell as he walked by her.

"Payton's pissed at me." He said as he walked around her living room.

"Oh? Why?" It seemed the only thing she could say, why was he here asking her that?

"Because Sara," He turned around to glare at her, "All week you've been completely avoiding me and I've been going insane trying to figure out why."

She was in the living room by the sofa just staring at him; she hadn't expected she was going to have to ever explain this to him. "We don't have to work together all the time Greg." She was trying to maintain her composure.

"Oh don't get all superior on me; you know that's not the issue at all. You're avoiding me, why don't you just admit it?"

He had never spoken to her like this before and it pissed her off because she liked it, "Would it make you feel better if I did that Greg? Fine I've been avoiding you."

"Why?" Like a light switch he wasn't angry anymore, just hurt and confused, "I've been racking my brain and I can't think of anything I could have done."

"It's not you it's just…" She trailed off, how was she going to handle this? Does she tell him it's cause she can't get him off her mind and that being around him knowing that Payton exists is torture for her? Or does she try to placate him enough without admitting anything?

"Just what?" He was getting closer to her which made his heart beat faster. 'Stop moving Sanders!'

She saw him getting nearer and cleared her throat, "I just, uh, needed a break and umm, wanted to work solo some more." She tried.

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "Nice try Sidle I think I know you a little bit better than that."

"You do?" She didn't move, she should have, because he was too close. He was infringing on her personal space and it was driving her crazy.

"Well I thought so," He was inches from her face and contemplating if this was the best move to test her. It was highly deceptive, he should just ask, but he didn't trust her to tell him the truth. So he did it, he did what he'd been wanting to do for so long he'd lost count.

He kissed her.

'Push him away!' The words were SCREAMING in her head but she didn't hear them, she just followed his lead and regretted not listening to the words later.

After a few blissful moments it dawned on Greg that he was kissing Sara and she was kissing him back! He, reluctantly, stepped away and stared at her, "Why now?" He asked with a sigh, "Why after all this time? Why now?"


	6. This Is It?

AN Okay here is the end of this particular story, now before you string me up for torture I PROMISE there will be more, this just started off with angst so it kind of had to end that way. This made more sense in a 'twisted' sort of way. :) Again thank you SO MUCH for all of your positive feedback, I'm really glad you guys like this story, I hope you like the sequel as well!

* * *

"_Why now?" He asked with a sigh, "Why after all this time? Why now?"_

* * *

She was trying to think straight, but it wasn't working. His lips were moving but she couldn't hear him. She licked her lips and shook her head out of its fog and said, "What?"

Greg stared at her and just groaned, "Damn Sara, this isn't fair!" He was exasperated. He'd watched her for years, flirted with her and basically resigned himself to the fact that she would never see him as more than just the lab tech turned CSI and now this!

"I'm sorry." She managed, "I was trying not to make this difficult."

"By avoiding me?" Greg rolled his eyes, "You are far from stupid Sara don't try to act it."

"Fine." She threw up her hands and started pacing. "But do not blame me if you can't handle this."

"I can handle a lot more than you're giving me credit for." He said as he sunk into one of her arm chairs.

He was speaking to her so expectantly that she almost lost her nerve. For once in her life she was going to be vulnerable. Despite his annoyance she had still never been as comfortable with anyone in her life as she was with Greg. She was looking at him, but he was staring at his hands. "I've taken advantage of you Greg."

His head snapped up to look at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

She gave him a small smile and continued, "Not on purpose and I honestly didn't realize it till recently."

"Payton." He breathed, still staring at her.

She nodded sadly, "Yeah." She sighed and started wringing her hands, "It dawned on me last week when you told me you'd finally taken the hint. You, um, look at her like you used to look at me."

He blushed and looked down again, "I, uh, what do you mean?" He had never expected to have this conversation so he wasn't at all sure how to conduct it.

She was blushing too because it was an awkward thing to say. "With admiration and that…" She cleared her throat and debated not saying it, but did anyway. "…sexy smile of yours that dared her to guess what you were thinking. You used to look at me like that and…" She inhaled deeply. "I liked it."

He cleared his throat, he was staring again, "You, um, what?" It's all that seemed to make its way out of his mouth, this was insane. He half expected to wake up and realize it was a dream.

She sat on the coffee table in front of him, "I liked it."

He wanted to grasp her hands, he wanted to kiss her, and he wanted to scream at her. "I can't believe this." He stood up to force some distance between them. "You have the shittiest timing Sara, you know that? Why do you have to tell me this now? What am I supposed to do with this information?"

"Need I remind you that you came here and you told me you could handle it?"

"I can handle it but that doesn't mean I have to like it." He just stared at her torn between being angry and wanting to hold her, "She told me she loved me Sara. Payton did, last week and…and…now this." He threw his hand in the air, "pardon me if I'm feeling just a little bit overwhelmed."

If she hadn't been breathing she would have been sure that her heart had stopped, "Did you…I mean, what did you say?"

He looked at her sadly, "Nothing actually, but I've thought about saying it. I just don't know if I am or not. This isn't making it any easier."

"Life isn't easy Greg."

"Oh don't give me that! You are not in the position to give me advice about my life." He fumed, "Listen, I can't talk about this any more I have to think and possibly drink a lot." He went to the door.

"Wait," She called after him, which made him turn around, "What about work?"

"Don't worry about work Sara?" He gave her a forced smile, "We've faked before, we can do it again," and with that he was gone.

She felt like she had stared at the door for a long time before she made her way over there to latch it. This wasn't how the situation was supposed to turn out, although, truth be told, she couldn't think how she actually wanted it to turn out. She put her fingers to her lips and slowly slid down the door to the floor pulling her knees up to her chest. Why did he have to kiss her? She didn't even feel the tears until they hit her knees. She didn't have to ask the question of whether she wanted him any more, she most definitely did!

* * *

Payton and Greg moved in together two weeks after Greg and Sara had talked. It was awkward at first but eventually they got back into a semblance of their normal routine, working so hard the sleep was infrequent. The only problem was neither of them could look the other in the eye any more and their silences were never comfortable.

* * *

_Greg hadn't wanted to move in with Payton but she had insisted as a way to 'prove' he didn't want to be with Sara. So he did it, out of complete guilt. He hadn't told Payton about the kiss and it haunted him. It haunted him because he couldn't get her lips out of his mind and no amount of drowning himself in Payton could make him forget how unbelievable kissing Sara made him feel…_

AN This is what you call a slightly little teaser of where the next story is gonna go...just so you don't think I really want to be so cruel to Sara:)


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